Peter Merts, photographer

This was the last session for the African song and dance class at DVI, and was thus the occasion for a dance performance. There was also some freestylin'. The instructors are Phillip and Francis, with We Heart Art Academy.

The dance and songs are part of a piece called Kpanlogo, which is from the Ga tribe in Ghana. Kpanlogo was created by tribal youth around the time of Ghana’s Independence, and has since become common throughout the country.

Kpanlogo is quite versatile, as words have been created for different types of occasion—including celebration, mourning, and protest.

The class is part of California Arts in Corrections, which is administered by the California Arts Council in partnership with the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation: www.artsincorrections.org.

At the request of several artists, prints of these images are available at cost. At the top/right of the image, find and click on the shopping basket. If the FOTOMOTO site does not open right away, please try again. This feature may not work on phones and tablets; please use a laptop or desktop computer.